amthrasher Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 When thinking about careers, important considerations for me include 1) if I will enjoy the work, 2) pay, 3) time off and hours/week worked. Really, the quality of my life is the most important thing to me. I love to travel, I have tons of time consuming hobbies I'm really passionate about and I want to be able to devote as much time as possible to these things. Of course, having a solid career is also important to me. I have to be honest, money is also important. I like to work long hours when Im working and I like my time off when I have it. From everything I've been reading on forums etc, Im thinking that working as a Emergency Medicine PA is the right decision for me. Are there any EM PA's on this forum who can give me some insight into hrs/week worked, vacation time per year (ive heard 3 months is common?), etc. Also, if anyone else has any thoughts on which type of PA has the best lifestyle I'd appreciate the comments. - BTW, Im new on this forum. I've been reading lots of the comments and appreciate all of the content. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
physio Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 Actually, I would say Derm is probably a better "lifestyle specialty" than EM looking at the criteria you provided. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted January 3, 2011 Moderator Share Posted January 3, 2011 You will get many different answers to this. derm is certainly good. any kind of outpt practice without call is good as well. if you are looking for volume of time off plus good pay it's hard to beat em or a hospitalist service pa schedule as it is shift work with many days off. 3 mo vacation is almost unheard of( I've had 12 weeks once at a union job I was at for 14 years but it started at 3 weeks and worked up to 12 over many yrs).. 2-4 weeks is more common. the nice thing about shiftwork is you can group shifts and have time off without using vacation. for example I have to work a min of 8 shifts/mo to maintain full benefits. usually I work 16-18. but if I wanted to take a big vacation to europe, asia, etc (as many of my colleagues have done) I could work 8 days in a row, be off the next 23 and ask to work the last 8 days of the next month putting me off 46 days in a row without using any vacation. also with shift work you can usually trade shifts with your colleagues for last min stuff. the downside of shiftwork is nights/weekends/holidays. someone needs to work them and you need to do your fair share. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AvaMax Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 This is great information. Of course, I thought I would be able to get a more concrete understanding of "lifestyle" once I start rotations and shadow a few more PAs in the EM area. But this is good to know. You will get many different answers to this.derm is certainly good. any kind of outpt practice without call is good as well. if you are looking for volume of time off plus good pay it's hard to beat em or a hospitalist service pa schedule as it is shift work with many days off. 3 mo vacation is almost unheard of( I've had 12 weeks once at a union job I was at for 14 years but it started at 3 weeks and worked up to 12 over many yrs).. 2-4 weeks is more common. the nice thing about shiftwork is you can group shifts and have time off without using vacation. for example I have to work a min of 8 shifts/mo to maintain full benefits. usually I work 16-18. but if I wanted to take a big vacation to europe, asia, etc (as many of my colleagues have done) I could work 8 days in a row, be off the next 23 and ask to work the last 8 days of the next month putting me off 46 days in a row without using any vacation. also with shift work you can usually trade shifts with your colleagues for last min stuff. the downside of shiftwork is nights/weekends/holidays. someone needs to work them and you need to do your fair share. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted January 3, 2011 Moderator Share Posted January 3, 2011 there are as many em schedules as there are emergency depts. some places work 8, 9, 10, 12, 16, 24, or 48 hr shifts or a combination of all of the above. 4 eights or tens/week is a nice schedule. so is 3 twelves. so is two 24's. so is 1 48. my dream schedule is eight 24's/mo. my first job was m-th 9-7. 3 day weekend every week. that was nice. some entry level jobs are 5 tens or 4 twelves/week. that's working too much as far as I am concerned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJR Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 We work 12 shifts a month at my current position. It averages out to 6 / 12 hours shifts in the express care, 9a to 9p, and 6 / 10 shifts in the primary ED, noon to 10p. We currently get 4 weeks vacation. This really is a pretty good lifestyle gig. Lots of time off for wetting a line, running trails and skiing. As earlier stated, we all rotate weekends and holidays. However, with that being said it can be nice to have weekdays off when everyone else is at work and your on lift after a fresh storm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DizzyJ Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 I work 3 12's a week with 3 weeks vacation. I couldn't ask for a better life. However, as mentioned, having to do my fair share of weekends and holidays is the down side. I got to see the family for Christmas :) , but no New Year's celebration in return :( And as Emed said, it's great to be able to front load shifts and then have a stretch of time off without using vacation time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AvaMax Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 NM, saw the signature Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amthrasher Posted January 5, 2011 Author Share Posted January 5, 2011 Thanks for the quick replies, very helpful info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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